Helen, John and Ian Rider Read It All
by MsWolfProtector
Summary: One night nine books show up on Helen, John and Ian Rider's house in the south of France which is where they have been hiding because of Scorpia and MI6. They now read about our favorite super spy.
1. Prologue

**Hi there! I'm new to this game and this is my first story-thing-whatever- anyways please, no flames and I hope you enjoy it!**

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><p><strong>Disclaimer: I do not and will never (very <strong>**sadly) own Alex Rider.**

Helen Rider was walking into the kitchen when she felt a hand on her shoulder and she screamed only to have a strong but gentle hand over her mouth. She had turned around to stare into the eyes of her husband, John Rider and his brother Ian Rider.

"There's somebody at the door" John whispered,

"Oh, c'mon! What's with the quietness and caution?" Helen smacked John's arm.

"Hey! We're spies! We have to be careful!" Ian complained with fake anger.

"Oh, whatever. I'll get the door." Helen stared to walk towards the door but John laid his hand on her shoulder and looked at her worryingly, "I'll be fine".

Helen walked to the door and opened it...

Nobody.

The streets are empty but there was a stake of 9 nine books on the doorstep. Cautiously Helen picked the books up and closed the door behind her.

"There books" Helen placed them on the coffee table.

Ian ran and literally jumped onto the sofa and looked down at the books and gasped.

"What?" John came in and wrapped his arms around Helen from behind.

"There about Alex"

Helen and John shared a look and quickly picked up the first book before sitting on the sofa.

"I guess we better read them" Helen shrugged and John opened the book.

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><p>"<em><strong>Stormbreaker<strong>_" John read, "_**Funeral Voices**_"

**I know that it's short but hey it's my first time!**

**Help Protect Our Wolves!**

**Peace Out Suckers!**


	2. Funeral Voices

**Hi! Thank you for all the nice reviews (Yay!) and because you reviewed here's another Chapter! Enjoy!**

"**When the doorbell rings at ****three in the morning, it's never good news."**

"Yeah, don't we all know it" Ian laughed only to have John smack him upside the head before hissing at him,

"Shut up and let me read!"

"Wow! Ok! Puberty much!" Ian threw is hands in the air and Helen stifled a laugh.

John put the book down on the table slowly and carefully before lunging at his brother and pinning him to the floor,

"Shut up!"

"O-k" Ian gasped before John let him go and started to read the book again.

"**Alex Rider was woken by the first chime. His eyes flickered open, but for a moment he stayed completely still in his bed, lying on his back with his head resting on the pillow. He heard a bedroom door open and a creak of wood as somebody went downstairs. The bell rang a second time and he looked at the alarm clock glowing beside him. There was a rattle as someone slid the security chain off the front door. He rolled out of bed and walked over to the open window, his bare feet pressing down the carpet pile. The moonlight spilled onto his chest and shoulders. Alex was fourteen, already well built, with the body of an athlete. His hair, cut short apart from two thick strands hanging over his forehead, was fair. His eyes were brown and serious.**"

"I'm curious as to what they mean by 'serious'" Helen's eyebrows squashed together.

John side and started lovingly at his wife, 'She's so cute when she's worried'. John was snapped out of his trance by Ian's fingers clicking **(A/N: Is it snapping or clicking? I dunno!) **in his face and Helen making a carry on gesture to him and the book in his hands.

"**For a moment he stood silently half hidden in the shadow looking out. There was a police car parked outside.**"

"Uh oh" They all chimed

"**From his second floor window Alex could see the black ID number on the roof and the caps of the two men who were standing in front of the door. The porch light went on and at the same time the door opened**

"**Mrs. Rider?"**

"**No I'm the housekeeper. What is it? What's happened?"**

"**This is the home of Mr. Ian Rider?"**

**"Yes."**

"**I wonder if we could come in… "**

**And Alex already knew. He knew from the way the police stood there awkward and unhappy. But** **he also knew from the tone of their voices. Funeral voices…that was how he would describe them** **later. The sort of voices people use when they come to tell you that someone close to you has died. He went to the door and opened it. He could hear the two policemen talking down in the hall, but only some of the words reached him. **

"…**a car accident …called the ambulance …intensive care …nothing anyone could do …so sorry**"

Helen, John and Ian shared a look at this part of the story. 'Car accident, yeah right' Ian snorted.

"**It was only hours later, sitting in the kitchen, watching as the gray light of morning bled slowly** **through the West London streets, that Alex could try to make sense of what had happened. His** **uncle-Ian Rider-was dead. Driving home his car had been hit by a truck at Old Street roundabout** **and he had been killed almost instantly. He hadn't been wearing a seat belt, the police said.** **Otherwise he might have had a chance.**"

"I was kidnapped, you freaks!" Ian stood up with his hands in the air, "It was a different dead person that looked like me! I was kidnapped by Scorpia!"

"Hey, bro, calm down! Me and Helen rescued you so you're fine now!" John pulled his brother back into his seat and began to read.

"**Alex thought of the man who had been his only relation for as long as he could remember. He had never known his own parents.**"

Helen let a stray tear fall down her cheek. John put an arm around his wife and whispered soothing words to her.

"Helen?" Helen looked over at Ian who had a soft smile playing on his face , "Just remember that we're allowed to go back to England and see Alex when he's sixteen."

That made Helen smile and stop crying, "Well, then lets read some more before we go".

"**They had both died in another accident, this one a plane crash, a****few weeks after he had been born.****He had been brought up by his father's brother (never "uncle"-Ian Rider had hated that word) and had spent fourteen years in the same terraced house in Chelsea London between the King's Road and the river. But it was only now Alex realized just how little he knew about the man.**"

"There's a reason for that, my son" John mumbled,

"You do know that you're talking to a book, right?" Ian chuckled

"Shut up!"

"**A banker. People said Alex looked quite like him.**"

"He looks even more like you" Ian looked at John,

"Why you- wait. Did-did you just complement me?" A look of pure shock was plastered on John's face.

"Hey, I never said it was a good thing" Ian grinned slyly while Helen just laughed and told John to forget it and read.

"**Ian Rider was always travelling. A quite private man who like good wine, classical music and books. Who didn't seem to have a girlfriend … **"

" Well, duh! Why would anybody date that pig?" John looked at his brother in disgust but quickly carried on reading before Ian could protest.

"**in fact he didn't have any friends at all. He had kept himself fit, had never smoked and dressed expensively. But that wasn't enough. That wasn't a picture of life. It was only a thumbnail sketch. **

"**Are you alright, Alex?" A young woman had come into the room. She was in her late twenties, with a sprawl of red hair and a round, boyish face. **

"Thought you had no girlfriends?" John raised an eyebrow.

**Jack Starbright was American. She had come to London as a student seven years ago, rented a room in the house –in return for light housework and baby-sitting duties- and had stayed on to become housekeeper and one of Alex's closest friends. Sometime he wondered what jack was short for. Jackie? Jacqueline? Neither of them suited her and although he had once asked, she had never said.**

**Alex nodded. "What do you think will happen?"**

"**What do you mean?"**

"**To the house. To me. To you."**

"**I don't know" She shrugged. "I guess Ian will have made a will. He'll of left instructions."**

"**Maybe we should look in his office."**

"No, no, no. Stay out of there Alex, that's all MI6 stuff and you are not getting involved with MI6 until you 20 and even then I'd prefer it if you didn't get involved" Ian's eyes widened.

"And you laughed at _me_ for talking to the book?" John raised an eyebrow.

"**Yes. But not today, Alex. Let's take it one step at a time."**

**Ian's office was a room running the full length of the house, high up at the top. It was the only room in the house that was always locked –Alex had only been in there three or four times, never on his own. When he was younger, he had fantasized that there might be something strange up there;**"

"Yes there was. Your uncle." John said, earning a glare from Ian.

"**a time machine or a UFO. But it was only an office with a desk, a couple of filing cabinets, shelves full of paper and books. Bank stuff –that's what Ian had said. Even so, Alex wanted to go up there now. Because it had never been allowed.**

"**The police said he wasn't wearing a seat belt." Alex turned to look at Jack.**

"Uh oh" Ian whispered under his breath.

"**She nodded. "Yes. That's what they said."**

"**Doesn't that seem strange to you? You know how careful he was. He always wore a seat belt. He wouldn't even drive around the corner without making me put mine on."**

**Jack thought for a moment, then shrugged. "Yeah, it's strange." She said. "But that must have been the way it was. Why would the police have lied?"**"

"MI6" They all muttered but Ian added, "Couldn't come up with anything better could they?"

"**The day dragged on. Alex hadn't gone to school even though, secretly, he wanted to. He would have preferred to escape back into normal life –the clang of the bell, the crowds of familiar faces- instead of sitting here, trapped inside the house. But he had to be there for the visitors who came throughout the morning and the rest of the afternoon.**

**There were five of them. A solicitor who knew nothing about a will, but seemed to have been charged with organizing the funeral. A funeral director who had been recommended by the solicitor. A vicar –tall, elderly- who seemed disappointed that Alex did look more upset. A neighbor from across the road –how did she even know that anyone had died? And finally a man from the bank.**"

"Bank?" They all shouted, shared a look and made John read.

"**All of us at Royal & General are deeply shocked," He said.**"

"Yeah fucking right! You knew it was only a matter of time!" Ian shouted.

"Um, Ian?" John tapped his shoulder and pointed at Helen who had jumped at his uproar. Ian quickly shut up and muttered and apology.

"**He was in his thirties, wearing a polyester suit with Mark & Spencer tie. He had the sort of face you forgot even while you were looking at it,**"

"I agree because I did that after 6 months of knowing him, everybody did" Ian explained to Helen,

"Um, Ian, I think that you're the only person that's done that" John mumbled just loud enough for Ian to hear,

"Oh…" There was a 5 minute … um… can you say …awkward silence…

"**and had introduced himself as Crawley, from Personnel. "But if there's anything we can do…"**

"**What will happen?" Alex asked for the second time that day.**

"**You don't have to worry," Crawley said. "The bank will take care of everything. That's my job. You leave everything to me."**

**The day passed. Alex killed a few hours in the evening playing his Nintendo 64 –and then felt vaguely guilty when Jack caught him at it. But what else was he supposed to do? Later on she took him to Burger King. He was glad to get out of the house, but the two of them barely spoke. Alex assumed Jack would have to go back to America. She certainly couldn't stay in London forever. So who would look after him?**"

Helen sniffled back her tears and leant into John.

"**At fourteen, he was too young to look after himself. His whole future looked so uncertain that her preferred not to think about it. He preferred not to talk at all. And then the day of the funeral arrived and Alex found himself dressed in a dark jacket and cords, preparing to leave on a black car that had come from nowhere surrounded by people he had never met. Ian Rider was buried in Brompton Cemetery on the Fulham Road, just in the shadow of the Chelsea soccer field, and Alex knew where he would have preferred to be on that warm Wednesday afternoon. About thirty people had turned up, but he hardly recognized any of them. A grave had been dug close to the lane that ran the length of the cemetery, and as the service began, a black Rolls Royce drew up,**"

"Even though I'm not really dead, they could at least of showed up on time!" You can guess who said that.

"**the back door opened, and a man got out. Alex watched him as he walked forward and stopped. Alex shivered. There was something about the new arrival that made his skin crawl. And yet the man was ordinary to look at. Gray suit, gray hair, gray lips, and gray eyes. His face was** **expressionless, the eyes behind the square, gunmetal spectacles, completely empty.**"

"Blunt" Both John and Ian growled the man's name with hatred. This made Helen wonder who this 'Blunt' man was sine she had never met any of her husband's ex-employers or co-workers.

"**Perhaps that was what had disturbed Alex. Whoever this man was, he seemed to have less life than anyone in the cemetery. Above or below ground.**"

This made the men chuckle before reading again.

"**Someone tapped Alex on the shoulder and he turned around to see Mr. Crawley leaning over him.**

"**That's Mr. Blunt," the personnel manager whispered. "He's the chairman of the bank."** **Alex's eyes traveled past Blunt and over to the Rolls Royce. Two more men had come with him, one** **of them driving. They were wearing identical suits and, although it wasn't a particularly bright day,** **sunglasses. Both of them were watching the funeral with the same grim faces. Alex looked from** **them to Blunt and then to the other people who had come to the cemetery. Had they really known** **Ian Rider? Why had he never met any of them before? And why did he find it so difficult to believe** **that they really worked for a bank?**"

"Dude, you're kid asks a lot of questions!" Ian exclaimed.

"Yeah, I wonder who he got that from." Helen and Ian looked over at John, who was slowly sinking into the sofa and ignoring both of them but still hade that look on his face that said, 'Totally guilty but I'm gonna act innocent'. Needless to say, it really did work.

"**"… ****a good man, a patriotic man. He will be missed."**

**The vicar had finished his graveside address. His choice of words struck Alex as odd. Patriotic? That****meant he loved his country. But as far as Alex knew, Ian Rider had barely spent any time in it.****Certainly he had never been one for waving the Union Jack. He looked around, hoping to find Jack, but saw instead that Blunt was making his way towards him, carefully stepping around the grave.**"

"It's not because he care about the dead body underneath it, he just doesn't want to get his shoes dirty." Ian huffed but John shot straight up and looked both worried and angry,

"What the fuck does he want with my son!"

""**You must be Alex." The Chairman was only a little taller than him. Close to, his skin was strangely unreal. It could have been made of plastic. "My name is Alan Blunt," he said. "Your uncle often spoke of you."**

"**That's funny," Alex said. "He never mentioned you."**"

"Burned!" John and Ian laughed.

"**The grey lips twitched. "We'll miss him. He was a good man."**"

"Yeah right!" Ian had look of disbelief on his face and so did John only his disbelief was fake,

"I know right! You're not a good man!" Helen laughed at her husband's slightly childish behavior and told him to read.

"**What was he good at?" Alex asked. "He never talked about his work."**

**Suddenly, Crawley was there. "Your uncle was Overseas Finance Manger, Alex," he said. "He was responsible for out foreign branches. You must have known that."**

"**I know he travelled a lot." Alex said. "And I know that he was very careful.**"

"Oh god, don't go there, Alex, don't go there…" They all chanted.

"**About things like seat belts."**"

"And he went there." Ian said in a slight sing-song voice and averted his attention to a painting on the wall.

""**Well, sadly he wasn't careful enough." Blunt's eyes, magnified by the thick lenses of his spectacles, lasered into his own and for a moment Alex felt himself pinned down, like an insect under a microscope. "I hope we'll meet again." Blunt went on. He tapped the side of his face with a single grey finger. "Yes…" Then he turned and went back to his car.**

**It was as he was getting into the Rolls Royce that it happened**"

"Wait, what happened?" Helen suddenly got worried and lent closer to the book.

"**The driver leaned across to open the back door and his jacket fell open, reveling a shirt underneath. And not just the shirt. The man was wearing leather holster with an automatic pistol strapped inside. Alex saw it even as the man realized what had happened, quickly straightened up and pulled his jacket across his chest. Blunt had seen it to. He turned back and looked again at Alex. Something very close to emotion slithered across his face. Then he got into the car, the door closed and he was gone. **

**A gun at a funeral. Why? Why would bank managers carry guns?**"

"Alex, son, you don't want to know so just stay out of it" John pleaded.

Ian lent over a whispered "Talking to a book is a sign of that you're going crazy" and then he looked away whistling whilst John glared at his brother.

""**Let's get out of here." Suddenly Jack was at his side. "Cemeteries give me the creeps."**

"**Yes. And quite a few creeps have turned up." Alex muttered.**"

They all burst out laughing and Ian managed to splutter out, "B-burned, a-a-again-n!"

"**They slipped away quietly and went home. The car that had taken them to the funeral was still waiting, but they preferred the open air. The walk took them fifteen minutes. As they turned the corner into their street, Alex noticed a removals van parked in front of the house, the words ****STRYKER & SON painted on its side.**

**"****What's that doing…?" he began.**

**At the same moment the van shot off, the wheels skidding over the surface of the road.**"

"Ah, I think I know." John nodded his head in understanding but the others gave him a questioning look so he said, "The office" and they both nodded their head in understandment.

"**Alex said nothing as Jack unlocked the door and let them in, but while she went into the kitchen to** **make some tea, he quickly looked around the house. A letter that had been on the hall table now** **lay on the carpet. A door that had been half open was now closed. Tiny details, but Alex's eyes** **missed nothing. Somebody had been in the house. He was almost sure of it.**"

"He's observant" John's eyes widened, "Kinda impressive for a 14 year old boy."

"Just like his father." Helen kissed John's cheek, John blushed and turned to say something to her but Ian groaned,

"Ugh, lovey-dovey moments make me sick." John and Helen just shook their heads at his childish behavior and went back to reading; Ian and ruined the moment.

"**But he wasn't certain until he got to the top floor. The door to the office, which had always, always,** **been locked, was now unlocked.**"

"Ah! I was right!" John cheered.

"**Alex opened it and went in. The room was empty. Ian Rider had** **gone and so had everything else. The desk drawers, the closets, the shelves, anything connected** **to the dead man's work had been taken. Whatever the truth was about his uncle's past someone** **had just wiped it out.**

"Well, that's it for chapter 1, who's next?" John looked at the other to people in the room. Helen and Ian were quite for a moment before they both stuck there fists out. John just chuckled as they both sang,

"Rock, paper, scissors". Ian moaned and huffed angrily as Helen stuck out a gesture of rock and he did scissors. Ian now had to read. Just as John handed his brother the book his wife leaned over and whispered to him, "Can he even read?". John laughed and Ian, who had heard, just glared at her and said "Yes, I can, thank you very much.". He turned the page to Chapter 2 and began,

"**Heaven For Cars**"

**Hope you liked it! Now please review or I will send Ian over to annoy to for eternity!**

**Ian: Will you know?**

**Yep!**

**Help Protect Our Wolves!**

**Peace Out Suckers! **


	3. Heaven For Cars

**I'm back baby! Chapter 3 is up and running with Chapter 4 coming soon! Btw, this is set AFTER Ark Angel and I am going to try and add a new character in each chapter! Thank you for all the good reviews! There's a little surprise for you in this chapter too! You know they did a movie of Alex Rider in 2006 and they said that it was a total flop because it lacked believability? Well, I think that they should give it another try and not change too much about it! What to do you think? I gotta poll up about! Anyways, enjoy!**

**Disclaimer: I do not and will never (very very ****sadly) own Alex Rider.**

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><p>No sooner after Ian had read the title of the chapter the doorbell rang. Helen looked over at the two men who were shaking their heads in fear. 'Well, so much for them being men more like boys' Helen thought.<p>

"I'll get again"

Helen stood, walked to the door and opened it to reveal a girl with dark hair, bright blue eyes and freckles **(A/N: Guess who! ;))**.

"Hi! Sorry to bother you but our car broke down, can you help us?" The girl asked.

Helen's mouth dropt open –she had expected somebody French but this girl had a full English accent.

"You do speak English right?" The girl's smile faltered for a second,

"Oh! Yes! Yes! I speak English and I can help!" Helen realized that she hadn't answered.

"Ok, thanks! It's this way!" The girl pointed to a black mustang sitting not too far from the house.

"Ian, John! Come here!" Helen called and the men –oops! Sorry! I mean boys appeared.

"Yeah?" John asked.

"Get your tool kit." Helen said, grabbed a coat and walked towards the stranded car. "Hey, my husband's just getting the tool kit." She told the family of 3.

After a minute John came back with a tool kit and set to work on the car. Helen turned to see the young girl looking up at her.

"Sorry, it's just ...your eyes, they remind of somebody. What's your name?" The girl asked her.

"It's ok. I'm Helen Rider." The girl's mouth fell open in shock, her eyebrow lifted and her eyes widened. Helen looked up to see that the same thing had happened to her parents,

"What?" Helen asked.

"R-rider?" The girls' father stuttered and Helen nodded, "That's-that's-"

"Yeah, dad, I know". The girl's mouth barely moved as she spoke.

Suddenly John straightened up. He had heard everything but he had kept quiet and carried on until the car was fixed.

"Why are you all shocked?" John asked but they all ignored him as the girl turned to her father and said,

"Daddy?"

"Y-yes, darling?"

"Can I stay here and talk to them whilst you go home? Please! I'll get cab back or ask them to drive me back!" The girl pleaded.

The father was going o protest but his wife whispered something in his ear and agreed. It all happened so fast that the Rider's could top it. The parents gave their thank, got in the car and drove away leaving their daughter behind.

"What just happened?" Ian said.

"Why don't we go inside?" The girl walked back to the gate and waited for them.

The Rider's looked at each other and shrugged. There was nothing they could do now; they would have to let her in. So they took the girl into the house and sat down,

"So, what's your name?" Helen asked,

"It's Sabina Pleasures. **(A/N: Ahhhh! I bet you all saw it coming earlier.)**" The girl –Sabina- answered.

"And why were you so shocked that our second name is Rider?" John asked.

"Well, my best friend -and I mean best of the bestest friends in the whole world- is called Alex Rider." This made all the Rider's hunch forwards.

"Alex?" Helen grinned.

"Yeah but he said he was orphan"

"No, no, you don't get it. We're hiding. He thinks he's an orphan. They all think we're dead, even the MI6. Wait do you-" John stared but was cut off by Sabine

"Yeah, I know about MI6" She waved her hand as if it didn't matter and it was the most obvious thing in the world. "So, you guys have been hiding here from I guess like Scorpia?"

The Rider's all nodded.

"Ok, so you must be John Rider, Alex's dad?" Sabina pointed at John.

"Yes, that's me!" John smiled

"And you are Ian Rider, Alex's uncle?" She pointed at Ian,

"Yep!"

"Ok, so what are you doing with a bunch of books?"

"They're about Alex and we're reading them." Helen picked up the book and handed it to Ian who grumbled about the book being too big.

"Can I join?"

"Um, sure, yeah, ok. But we're on the second chapter and Ian is already 'dead'." John shrugged and Ian reluctantly began to read.

"**Heaven For Cars**"

"**With Hammersmith Bridge just ahead of him, Alex left the river and swung his bike through the lights and down the hill toward Brookland School. ****The bike was a Condor Junior Roadracer, custom-built for him on his twelfth birthday.**"

"Ian" Helen said.

"Yes?" Ian answered, a little scared.

"Thank you for looking my son" Ian was shocked and he fell back into the sofa.

"**It was a teenager's bike with a cut down Reynolds 531 frame but the wheels were full-size so he could ride at speed with hardly any rolling resistance. He spun past a Mini and cut through the school gates. He would be sorry when he grew out of the bike. For two years now it had almost been part of him.**"

"Wait!" John called out causing everybody to jump, "I should probably tell Sabina that Ian's a complete and utter idiot, so please forgive us for anything he does or says"

Everybody knew it was a joke so Helen and Sabina burst out laughing. Ian however did not find it funny so he just glared at his brother who had ended up laughing along with the girls.

"Dick" He muttered under his breath.

"**He double-locked it in the shed and went into the yard. Brookland was a new comprehensive, red brick and glass, modern and ugly school.**"

"Aren't all schools ugly?" Sabina moaned the rhetorical question.

"**Alex could have gone to any of the smart private schools around Chelsea, but Ian Rider decided to send him here. He said it would be more of a challenge.**"

"Oh, yeah and you really challenged yourself at school. Are trying to make my son struggle?" John raised an eyebrow at his brother.

"N-no" Ian said, a little scared of the look that John was giving him. The girls just laughed.

"**The first lesson of the day was maths. When Alex came into the classroom, the teacher, Mr. Donovan, was already chalking up a complicated equation on the board.**"

"Ugh, math's is the worst!" Sabina complained.

"**It was hot in the room, the sunlight steaming in through the floor-to-ceiling windows put in by architects who should have known better.**"

"I totally agree with him." Sabina shook her head slightly.

"**As Alex took his place near the back, he wondered how he was going to get through the lesson. How could he possible think about algebra when so many other questions were churning in his mind?**

**The gun at the funeral. The way Blunt had looked at him.**"

"Ugh, I take it back math's isn't the worse, Blunt is" Sabina shuddered and everyone agreed with her.

"**The van with STRYKER & SON written on the side. The empty office. And the biggest question of all, the one detail that refused to go away. The seat belt. Ian Rider hadn't been wearing a seat belt.**

**But of course he had.**"

"Ok, that made no sense" Sabina pointed at the book and John answered her.

"Well, Ian has an obsessive-" small glare from Ian, "-and compulsive-" an even bigger glare from Ian, "thing with wearing seat belts and the police said that Ian had 'died' in a car crash because he wasn't wearing a seat belt but Alex doesn't believe them."

"Oh ok" Sabina understand and the reading continued.

"**Ian Rider had never been one to give lectures.**"

"Or listen to them" John mumbled so only Helen could hear and Helen held back a laugh.

"**He had always said Alex should make his own mind up about things. But he'd had this thing about seat belts.**"

"Compulsive" John coughed and when Ian didn't hear him coughed even louder, "Obsessive!" and that time Ian heard him.

"Will you shut up? Don't you remember Nanny Pat from down the road? Well she had a car accident and she never used to wear seat belts but she did were a seat belt that time because I made her promise to wear one." Ian yelled.

"No, I don't remember Nanny Pat." John said blankly.

"Well...you could have told me that before I shouted everything out!" John was about to protest but the girls –who by now had had enough- shouted. "Boys!" and they got the drift.

"**The more Alex thought about it, the less he believed it. A collision at a roundabout. Suddenly he wished he could see the car. At least the wreckage would tell him that the accident really happened, that Ian Rider really had died that way.**"

"I haven't even died, let alone died 'that' way!" Ian complained.

"Why do I get the feeling that the wish about seeing the car is going to end up more than a wish?" Helen asked, slightly worried. Nobody answered her but they were all thinking the same thing.

""**Alex?"**

**Alex looked up and realised that everyone was staring at him. Mr Donovan had just asked him something. He quickly scanned the blackboard, taking in the figures. "Yes, sir," he said, "**_**x**_** equals seven and **_**y**_** is fifteen."**"

"Wow! He actually managed to answer it! Impressive!" Sabina's eyes widened and everybody agreed with her.

"**The maths teacher sighed. "Yes, Alex. You're absolutely right. But actually I was just asking you to open the window."**"

Ian burst out laughing; Sabina smiled and shook her head whilst Helen and John just looked at each other because they knew that it happened because of all the questions that Alex kept asking himself. 'My poor baby' Helen thought whilst John was thinking, 'wait I get my hands on MI6 I'm gonna kill someone for all the stress they have already put my son through!'

"**Somehow he managed to get through the rest of the day, but by the time the final bed rang, his mind was made up. While everyone streamed out, he made his way to the secretary's office and borrowed a copy of the Yellow Pages.**"

"I wonder how they make the pages yellow" Ian said not to anyone in particular.

John just turned to Sabina and mouthed 'idiot' and Sabina silently laughed.

'John reminds me a lot of Alex' Sabina thought to herself.

"**What are you looking for?" the secretary asked. Jane Bedfordshire was a young woman in her late twenties and she'd always had a soft spot for Alex.**"

"That's good that there is somebody that works at the school who cares at least a little bit for Alex." Helen murmured to herself.

"**Breakers' yards..." Alex flicked through the pages. "If a car got smashed up on Old Street, they'd take it somewhere nearby, wouldn't they?"**"

"Oh no" Helen moaned at her son's antics and John wrapped his arms around her. This time Ian didn't complain. Helen looked over and saw Sabina was so worried that she was shaking. Helen reached out a hand and rubbed her shoulder, Sabina turned and smiled at her but the smile was small and there was nothing they could do to stop her from worrying so much. 'I wonder if they were more than best friends?' Helen, John and Ian asked themselves.

""**I suppose so."**

"**Here..." Alex had found the yards listed under "Car Dismantler" But there were dozens of them fighting for attention over four pages.**"

"How many car dismantlers are there?" Ian's eyes widened.

"Forget that! Why would anybody want to BE a car dismantler?" Sabina set forward another rhetorical question.

""**Is this for a school project?" the secretary asked. She knew Alex had a lost relative, but not how.**

"**Sort of..." Alex was reading the addresses, but they told him nothing.**"

"Yeah, some school project" Sabina rolled her eyes.

""**This one's quite near Old Street." Miss Bedfordshire pointed at the corner of the page.**"

"Don't tell him where to go!" Sabina yelled at the book.

"It's a book" Ian whispered.

"Ian, I really don't think she cares."

""**Wait!" Alex tugged the book towards him and looked at the entry underneath the one the secretary had chosen:**

**J.B. STRYKER**

_**Heaven for cars...**_

**J.B. Stryker, Auto Breakers**

**Lambeth Walk, LONDON**

**Tel: 020 7123 5392**

_**...call us today!**_"

"Wow, MI6. Talk about crap advertisements!" Ian's eyes widened and he chuckled but everybody just ignored him and carried on.

""**That's in Vauxhall," Miss Bedfordshire. "Not too far from here."**

"**I know." But Alex recognized the name. J.B. Stryker. He thought back to the van he had seen outside his house on the day of the funeral. STRYKER & SON. Of course it might just be a coincidence,**"

"Son, in our world, there is no such thing as coincidences." John said and clamped his hand over his brother's mouth to stop him from saying –well you can guess.

"**but it was somewhere to start. He closed the book. "I'll see you, Miss Bedfordshire."**

"**Be careful how you go." The secretary watched Alex leave, wondering why she had said that. Maybe it was his eyes. Dark and serious, there was something dangerous there.**"

"He's only a child!" Helen shouted and shot forward but Sabina looked at her wide eyed,

"Oh no, trust me Helen, you have NO idea what he can do". This left the Rider's to wonder what Alex could do.

"**Then the telephone rang and she forgot him as she went to work.**

**J.B Stryker's was a square of wasteland behind the railway tracks running out of Waterloo Station.**

**The area was enclosed by a high brick wall topped with broken glass and razor wire.**"

"That's a rather dangerous place for a 14 year old to go into" Helen lent into John's chest.

**Two wooden gates hung open and, from the other side of the road, Alex could see a shed with a security window and beyond it the tottering piles of dead and broken cars. Everything of any value had been stripped away and only the rusting carcasses remained heaped one on top of the other waiting to be fed into the crusher.**"

"I hate the crusher…" Ian groaned.

"Why?" John answered.

"Because it looks scary" Ian answered like it was the most obvious thing in the world and John just shook his head.

**There was a guard sitting in the shed, reading the **_**Sun.**_** In the distance, a crane coughed to life, then roared down on a battered Ford Mondeo, its metal claws smashing through the window to scoop up the vehicle and carry it away. A telephone rang somewhere in the shed and the guard turned around to answer it. That was enough for Alex. Holding his bike, and wheeling it along beside him, he sprinted through the gates.**"

"Oh god" Helen buried half her face in John's chest.

'I wonder if me and Alex's could of- no! Sabina, don't think about it!' Sabina mental scolded herself,

**He found himself surrounded by dirt and debris. The smell of diesel was thick in the air and the roar of the engines was deafening. Alex watched as a crane swooped down on one of the cars, seized it in a metallic grip, and dropped it into a crusher. For a moment the car rested on a pair of shelves. Then the shelves lifted up-toppling the car over and down into a trough. The operator sitting in a glass cabin at one end of the crusher pressed a button and there was a great belch of black smoke. The shelves closed in on the car like a monster insect folding in its wings. There was a grinding sound as the car was crushed until it was no bigger than a rolled up carpet. Then the operator threw a gear and the car was squeezed out metallic toothpaste, being chopped up by a hidden blade.**"

"Am I the only person who is kinda worried that he is describing this so thoroughly?" Ian looked at his companions but none of them answered him.

"**The slices tumbled to the ground.** **Leaving his bike propped against the wall, Alex ran farther into the yard, crouching down behind the wrecks. With the din from the machines there was no chance that anyone would hear him but he was still afraid of being seen. He stopped to catch his breath, drawing a grimy hand across his face. His eyes were watering from the diesel fumes. The air was as filthy as the ground beneath him.**"

"He's gonna get all dirty" Helen said and John smiled.

'Even though she hasn't seen him in 14 years and she isn't with him now, she still treats him like her baby' John thought.

**He was beginning to regret coming, but then he saw it-His uncle's BMW was parked a few yards away, separated from the other cars. At first glance it looked absolutely fine, the metallic silver bodywork not even scratched.**"

"Well, how did I 'die'?" Ian asked

"I think he was gonna tell us but youjust had to open your mouth" John started read before Ian could say any more.

"**Certainly there was no way that this car could have been involved in a fatal collision with a truck, or with anything else. But it was definitely his uncle's car. Alex recognized the license plate. He hurried closer and it was now that he saw that the car was damaged after all. The windshield had been smashed along with all the windows on the driver's side.**"

"Ok, before you start crying, just remember that I'm not dead." Ian turned to his friends, expecting to see them close to tears but in fact they didn't look bothered at all.

"**Alex made his way around to the other side. And froze. Ian Rider hadn't died in any accident. What had killed him was plain to see-even to someone who had never seen such a thing before. A spray of bullets had caught the car full on the driver's side, shattering the front tire, smashing the windshield and side windows, and punching into the side** **panels.****Alex ran his fingers over the holes.**"

"Be carefully not to cut yourself, honey." Helen said and Ian leaned over to whisper you-know-what but John just glared at him until he left Helen alone.

"**The metal felt cold against his flesh. He opened the door and looked inside. The front seats' pale gray leather were strewn with fragments of broken glass and stained with patches of dark brown. **

**He didn't need to ask what the stain was. He could see everything. The flash of the machine gun, the bullets ripping into the car, Ian Rider jerking in the driver's seat…**"

"Why does he want to imagine it?" John asked and everyone shook their heads.

"**But why? Why kill a bank manager? And why had the murder been covered up?**"

"Stop asking questions!" They all groaned.

"**It was the police who had brought the news, so they must be part of it. Had they deliberately lied? None of it made any sense.**

"**You should have got rid of it two days ago. Do it now."**"

"Uh oh" They all said bleakly.

"**The machines must have stopped for a moment. If there hadn't been a sudden lull, Alex would never have heard the men coming. Quickly he looked across the steering-wheel and out the other side. There were two of them, both dressed in loose-fitting overalls. Alex had a feeling he'd seen them before. At the funeral. One of them was the driver, the man he had seen with the gun. He was sure of it.**"

"Again" Ian said in a sing-song voice before everybody growled, "MI6"

"**Whoever they were, they were only a few paces away from the car, talking in low voices. Another few steps and they would be there. Without thinking, Alex threw himself into the only hiding place available: inside the car itself. Using his foot, he hooked the door and closed it. At the same time he became aware that the machines had started again and he could no longer hear the men. He didn't dare look up. A shadow fell across the window as the two men passed. But then they were gone. He was safe.**"

"Oh, thank bloody god!" Helen groaned.

"Helen, don't praise god too quickly" Sabina said.

"**And then something hit the BMW with such force that Alex cried out, his whole body caught in a massive shock wave that tore him away from the steering wheel and threw him helplessly into the back.**"

"You're not, um, fortune teller by any chance are?" Ian asked Sabina.

"No, it's just when you know Alex for a few months, every time that he says he's safe he really isn't." Sabina answered.

"**The roof buckled and three huge metal fingers tore through the skin of the car like a fork through an eggshell, trailing dust and sunlight. One of the fingers grazed the side of his head…any closer and it would have cracked his skull.**"

John gripped Helen's arm and began to murmur soothing words to her though it seemed that he was trying to sooth himself too.

"**Alex yelled as blood trickled over his eye. He tried to move, then was jerked back a second time as the car was yanked off the ground and tilted high up in the air.**"

'Oh, Alex, I'm sorry you had to be brought up like this. That you they had to mess with your life. I'm so sorry, I'm so sorry…' John continued that chant in his head and squeezed his eyes shut.

"**He couldn't see. He couldn't move. But his stomach lurched as the car swung in an arc, the metal grinding and the light spinning. The BMW had been picked up by the crane. It was going to be put inside the crusher. With him inside.**"

Sabina grabbed two pillows; held one in her arms to squeeze and the other she used to bury her face into. 'Oh, god, Alex, please be ok!' She cried in her head.

"**He tried to raise himself up, to wave through the windows. But the claw of the crane had already flattened the roof, pinning his left leg, perhaps even breaking it.**"

Nobody wanted to speak but John managed to say, "I'm gonna kill MI6" and he let one stray tear fall down his cheek. Then he looked at Helen and Sabina and saw them full non crying.

"**He could feel nothing. He lifted a hand and managed to pound on the back window, but he couldn't break the glass.**"

Ian managed to stop himself from crying by keeping one thought alive in his head as he carried on reading, 'He can't die because there's still 8 books left.'

"**Even if the workmen were staring at the BMW, they would never see anything moving inside.**

**His short flight across the junkyard ended with a bone shattering crash as the crane deposited the car on the iron shelves of the crusher. Alex tried to fight back his sickness and despair and think of what to do-Any moment now the operator would send the car tipping into the coffin shaped trough.**"

Sabina sniffled and looked over at the other three people in the room. Ian was gritting his teeth and had watery eyes, though he was not crying, John was crying softly and Helen was bawling her eyes out. 'Uh, wait till they here about Damian Cray' was her only thought.

"**The machine was a Lefort Shear, a slow motion guillotine. At the press of a button the two wings would close on the car, with a joint pressure of five hundred tons. The car with-Alex inside it-would be crushed beyond recognition. And the broken metal and flesh would then be chopped into sections.**"

"Why the fuck does he have to describe it so much?" Ian growled.

"**Nobody would ever know what had happened.**

**He tried with all his strength to free himself. But the roof was too low. His leg was trapped. Then his whole world tilted and he felt himself falling into darkness. The shelves had lifted. The BMW slid to one side and fell the few yards into the trough. Alex felt the metalwork collapsing all around him.**"

Helen blamed it all on MI6 and swore that if she ever met them she would kill them. 'Man, I'm glad John doesn't do this stuff anymore' she cheered in her head but carried on crying for her son.

"**The back window exploded and glass showered around his head dust and diesel fumes, punching into his nose and eyes.**"

'He'll be ok' Sabina chanted and chanted.

"**There was hardly any daylight, looking out of the back he could see the huge steel head of the piston that would push what was left of the car through the exit hole on the other side.**"

"Can't he clime through there?" Sabina asked and John answered,

"Well, yeah, I guess he could try." John sniffled and cheered up a tiny bit.

"**The engine tone of the Lefort Shear changed as it prepared for the final act. The metal wings shuddered. In a few seconds time the two of them would meet, crumpling the BMW like a paper** **bag.**

"Stop describing it so much!" Ian groaned

"**Alex pulled with all his strength and was astonished when his leg came free.**"

Helen looked up and saw that everyone had a little shine of hope in their eyes.

"**It took him perhaps a second- one precious second-to work out what had happened. When the car had fallen into the** **trough it had landed on its side. The roof had buckled again, just enough to free him. His hand scrabbled for the door but of course that was useless. The doors were too bent-They would never open. The back window.**"

"Yes, the first good idea, you've hand since you actually dived into the car and Ian don't even think about saying what I think –no, know- you're going to say." Sabina said and Ian sat back into his chair. John and Helen smiled.

"Talking to a book" Ian muttered under his breath.

"**With the glass gone he could crawl through the frame but only if he moved fast.**"

Everybody was repeating the same chant in their heads, 'please, please, please, please…,'

"**The wings began to move. The BMW screamed as two walls of solid steel, relentlessly crushed it.** **More glass shattered. One of the wheel axles snapped with the sound of a thunderbolt. Darkness began to close in.**"

Helen let out a soft whimper and John rubbed her arm.

"**Alex grabbed hold of what was left of the backseat. Ahead of him he could see a single triangle of light, shrinking faster and faster. He could feel the weight of the two walls pressing down on him.**"

'He'll make it, he'll be ok' Helen at reassure herself on her son's safety and life.

"**The car was no longer a car but the fist of some hideous monster-snatching at the insect that Alex had become.** **With all his strength, he surged forward. His shoulders passed through the triangle, out into the light. Next came his legs, but at the last moment his shoe caught on a piece of jagged metal.**"

"Please, please, please…," They all looked over at Sabina who was very quietly, without knowing it chanting for Alex to be ok.

"**He** **jerked and the shoe was pulled off, falling back into the car. Alex heard the sound of the leather being squashed. Finally, clinging to the black oily surface of the observation platform at the back of the crusher, he dragged himself clear and managed to stand up.**"

Everybody sighed with relief and relaxed. Helen reached a hand out a stroked Sabina's shoulder and Sabina smiled back at her. Ian fell back against the arm of the sofa and looked like he was going to faint whilst John put his head in his hands and lent forward, gathering himself and stopping his tears before sitting back up again and smiling at his wife.

"**He found himself face-to-face with a man so fat that he could barely fit into the small cabin of the crusher. The man's stomach was pressed against the glass, his shoulders squeezed into the corners. A cigarette dangled on his lower lip as his mouth fell open and his eyes stared.**"

Everybody began to laugh and after John hugged Helen and whispered in her ear, "It's only the second chapter and he's perfect." Helen sighed and hugged him back but whilst John thought he was perfect and so did Helen they both had one thought nagging in the back of their mind; they wanted to meet their son.

"**What he saw was a boy in the rags of what had once been a school uniform. A whole sleeve had been torn off and his arm, streaked with blood and oil, hung limply by his side.**"

"Well, it's better than being dead" Ian said and John looked at his brother,

"Shut up"

"What?" But John just ignored him and shook his head before Ian continued reading.

"**By the time the operator had taken this all in, come to his senses, and turned the machine off, the boy had gone.** **Alex clambered down the side of the crusher, landing on the one foot that still had a shoe. He was aware now of the pieces of jagged metal lying everywhere. If he wasn't careful he would cut open the other foot.**"

Sabina chuckled, "Yeah, that wouldn't be the best thing to do." And everyone agreed with her.

"**His bicycle was where he had left it, leaning against the wall, and, gingerly half hopping, he made for it. Behind him he heard the cabin of the crusher open and a man's voice called out, raising the alarm.**"

"Oh, c'mon!" Helen half groaned half growled

"**At the same time a second man ran forward, stopping between Alex and his bike. It was the driver, the man he had seen at the funeral. His face, twisted into a hostile frown, was curiously ugly: greasy hair, watery eyes, pale lifeless skin.**"

"Why is it that every bad guy is bear bun?" Sabina questioned

"Bear bun?" Helen asked

"Future slang for really ugly". John smiled and nodded.

"**"What do you think…" he began. His hand slid into his jacket, Alex remembered the gun and instantly, without even thinking, swung into action.**"

"Wait, that man wouldn't really have shot Alex would he?" Helen asked and sat up.

"Well…no…he's not likely to…maybe…probably…yeah" Ian Answered and began to read fast then before so that Helen couldn't start to shout.

"**He had started learning karate when he was six years old.**

**One afternoon, with no explanation, Ian Rider had taken him to a local club for his first lesson and he had been going there once a week ever since. Over the years he had passed through the various Kyu student grades. But it was only the year before that he had become a first grade Dan- a black belt.**"

Everybody's eyes widened and John whistled, "Impressive, it took me a year and 2 months and took Ian a year and 3 months. How long did it take Alex exactly?"

"Um…I think it was a year and a month" Ian answered and started to read again.

"**When he had arrived at Brookland School his gentle looks and accent had quickly brought him to the attention of the school bullies: three hulking sixteen year olds. They had cornered him once behind the bike shed.**"

"Stupidest they ever did." Ian shook his head.

"**The encounter lasted less than a minute. The next day one of the bullies had left Brookland and the other two had never troubled anyone again.**"

Everybody began to laugh and Ian only made it worst by adding, "One of the bullies has now got one testicle stuck up, inside…!" Sabina had tears in her eyes but this time they weren't tears of worry but tears of happiness and joy.

"**Now Alex brought up one leg, twisted his body around, and lashed out. The back kick, Ushiro Geri, is said to be the most lethal in karate. His foot powered into the man's abdomen with such force that the man didn't even have time to cry out. His eyes bulged and his mouth half opened in surprise. Then, with his hand still halfway into his jacket, he crumpled to the ground.**"

All eyes but Ian's widened and John whistled again.

"**Alex jumped over him, snatched up his bike, and swung himself onto it. In the distance a third man was running toward him. He heard the single word "Stop!" called out. Then there was a crack and a bullet whipped past.**"

"Uh! I'm gonna-!" Helen stood up but John grabbed her, pulled her back into her seat and clamped his hand over her mouth. John's face was red with anger and he whispered into his wife's ear, "We'll kill him, along with the whole of MI6, when we go back to England."

"**Alex gripped the handlebars and pedaled as hard as he could. The bike shot forward over the rubble and out through the gates. He took one look over his shoulder. Nobody had followed him.**"

"He should look where he's going in case he gets hurt" John heard Helen mumble and he smiled at her motherly antics.

"**With one shoe on and one shoe off, his clothes in rags, and his body streaked with oil, Alex knew he must look a strange sight. But then he thought back to his last seconds inside the crusher and sighed with relief. He could be looking a lot worse.**"

"That's it" Ian sighed and said, "Now, it's Helen's turn" Helen groaned and went to take a book but a tanned, petite hand flashed out a took it,

"I'll read if you like?" Sabina asked,

"Are you sure, hon?"

"Yeah" Sabina shrugged and turned the page,

"**Royal & General**"

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><p><strong>Yay! Sabina's back! I love Sabina! I also want to make a little bit of romance go on between Sabina and Alex cuz I think that they should actually go out! I'll probably had Wolf or the whole K-Unit in the next chapter. Tell which one you want in your reviews; Wolf or whole K-Unit?<strong>

**Help Protect Our Wolves!**

**Peace Out Suckers!**


	4. Meeting K Unit

**Here's the 4****th**** Chapter. Thanks to everybody for the advice especially the advice from rawr52! For the vote between the whole oh K-Unit and just Wolf coming into the story it came out as:**

**K-Unit= 4**

**Wolf= 0**

**So yeah it's the whole of K-Unit! Enjoy!**

**Disclaimer: I do not and will never (very very sadly) own Alex Rider.**

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><p>Once again there was an interruption from outside. A spray of bullets could have been heard from inside the house and the men looked at each other. Slowly they crept into the kitchen opened and secret door inside the cupboard and took out two Colt 55's. John handed Ian one and tip-toed back into the front room.<p>

"Get down" John whispered and Sabina felt herself being dragged down by Helen. Sabina felt kind of awkward about having her best friend mum's -who shouldn't even be alive! - arm around her shoulders. Although Sabina acted like she was cool with this how best-friends-parents-that-are-supposed-to-be-dead she was actually angry and felt kinda awkward.

John walked to the window and lifted the curtains with the tip of the gun. A group of four men were shot down another group of 3 men. After a few second the 3 men were dead and only one of the group of four was injured.

"Ian!" John hissed and his brother drew up by his side, "Grab one". Both men went out a window that faced the side of the house and quietly crept up behind the men. Ian grabbed one man and John grabbed another at the exact same time. The other men turned although the injured one was lying on the floor and his gun was a few meters away.

"Nobody moves and nobody gets hurt" Ian hissed.

"Who are you?" John asked.

"K-Unit from the SAS" The one that they guessed was the leader answered, "Who are you?"

"You don't need to know that" John said.

"Here, here! There is no need for the violence!" A voice came from behind them. John and Ian turned around and their mouths fell open.

"Smithers?"

"John? Ian?" The man standing in front of them was their very fat old friend, Smithers.

"This has got to be some sort of trick" John whispered.

"I know. First Sabina, then those K-Unit people and now Smithers."

"What are you doing here?" John asked Smithers.

"Me and they SAS men got a message telling us to come here" Smithers answered truthfully.

"Who from?" Ian asked

"Me" Ian and John looked at each other, slightly confused, "As in me from the future. Don't you remember that time machine I started work on in, I think it was, 1995. Well it's working! I got a bunch of books along with a letter telling me and the SAS men to come here. So I got one of those silent helicopters to drop the books of at this address and then when we were all packed I got another helicopter to drop us of here." Smithers took out the letter and handed it to John. John studied it then looked at his brother,

"He's telling the truth" The John let the man that he was holding go and shouted to all four of the SAS men and Smithers to drop all of their weapons. The leader dropped four guns, three knives and eleven grenades. The others dropped three guns, one knife and ten grenades and Smithers dropped a pocket knife and a come. "Ian, grab the umbrella."

"Ah! I remembered that umbrella!" Smithers chucked.

Ian ran into the house and came back with a multicolored umbrella. He opened it and put the top in front of Smithers, and then he flipped a switch on the handle. It glowed green and if it worked it would show any weapons that somebody had on them. Smithers had no other weapons on him. Ian turned to the SAS men and scanned all of them. They had no extra weapons but John and Ian were still going to be careful around them.

"John! What's going on?" Helen suddenly appeared at the doorway.

"Is that Helen?" Smithers smiled and started to walk towards her but John stepped in front of him, "I don't completely believe you yet so I want you to stay away from the girls"

"Girls? Have you got a girlfriend, Ian?"

"Whoa! No! She is way too young!" Ian signaled for the SAS men to follow him into the house. All the men came into the house.

"So, what are these books about?" The leader of the SAS's men asked.

"We will be the ones asking questions. So what are your names?" John didn't move the gun from its aim at the leader.

"Wolf" The leader held his head proud and looked at his men.

"My name is Fox" Another man stated.

"Snake"

"Eagle"

"Ok, well, I suppose we should make up our own code names." Ian said

"Yeah, you can be monkey or worm" John looked at him and Ian fake laughed.

"Yeah. Funny. Not" Ian stopped laughing and frowned, "Can I be Tiger?"

"Sure. I'll be Lion and Helen can be Lioness" John said

"I'll be Pup" Sabina said and stood awkwardly of to the side.

"Ok" John nodded, "You guys stand on the other side of the room, keep your hands out of your pockets and stand still. I am not going to put this gun down and neither is Ian so don't try anything."

The men shrugged and went to where they were told to go and John kept his promise with the gun.

"We're reading about a boy called Alex Rider" Helen said and Sabina once again picked up the book. The SAS men and Smithers began to grin.

"Did you say Alex Rider?" Fox asked.

"Yeah, you know him?" John asked and K-Unit began to laugh.

"Do we know him! He's a member of the K-Unit!" Wolf laughed. "Don't get me wrong he's not my most favorite person-"

"He's my favorite person" Fox looked at his leader.

"-but I respect him. We all respect him." Wolf gestured to the rest of his group and they all agreed.

"No offense to him but why do you respect a normal 14 year old boy?" Sabina asked and Wolf snorted.

"Ha! Alex is no normal 14 year old! He's a lethal weapon, man."

"Hey, guys hate to stop the convo but I have a bullet half-buried in the muscle in my thigh" Snake pointed at his thigh.

"Oh yeah. Can you help?"

"Sure" Helen got up and went to walk to Snake but John grabbed her arm, "You have got to stop worrying so much" He let go of her but never left her side and kept his gun trained at the SAS men.

After a few minutes of Snake giving Helen instructions and Helen stitching him up, Snake was ok and SAS men had thanked Helen.

"So are you guys going to read this damned book or what?" Wolf said gruffly.

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><p><strong>There you go! I know it short but I decided to make it a separate chapter because, 1) my fingers hurt from typin, 2) I'm lazy, 3) I do have a life you know and 4) You guess really want an update so the shorter the quicker.<strong>

**Help Protect Our Wolves!**

**Peace Out Suckers!**


	5. Chapter 5

**Hey, guys! I know that I decided to give up on this story but I've changed my mind now, so I'm starting it of again from the Royal & General chapter!**

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><p><strong>Royal &amp; General<strong>

Sabina read and Fox's eyes widened but nobody noticed.

**The bank rang the following day.**

"Why won't you leave him alone?" John complained

"In a way I'm glad they didn't leave him alone" Fox muttered so that nobody could hear him.

"**This is John Crawley. Do you remember me? Personnel Manager at Royal & General. We were wondering if you could come in."**

"**Come in?" Alex was half-dressed, already late for school.**

"Alex!" Helen shrieked whilst the K-Unit chuckled.

"**This afternoon. We found some papers of your uncle's. We need to talk to you… about your own position."**

**Was there something faintly threatening in the man's voice?**

"There better not be" Both Fox, John and Wolf growled. Fox and John looked at Wolf in confusion. Why did this man care?

"What? Cub's a member of the of the K-Unit and if anybody insults a member of the K-Unit then there in for hell." Wolf shrugged.

"**What time this afternoon?" Alex asked **

"He can't really be serious?" Ian sneered.

"**Could you manage half-past four? We're on Liverpool Street; we can send a cab-"**

"**I'll be there" Alex said. "And I'll take the tube."**

"Woo! Go Alex and your mouth! Although it's probably gonna be the death of you…" Sabina cheered then frowned.

"Uh, I agree" Fox shook his head.

**"Who was that?" Jack called out of the kitchen. She was cooking breakfast for the two of them although how long she could remain with Alex was a growing worry. Her wages hadn't been paid.** **She had only her own money to buy food and pay for the running of the house. Worse still, her visa was about to expire. Soon she wouldn't even be allowed to stay in the country.**

"If she goes back to America then what will happen to Alex?" Helen asked but everyone left to the book to answer.

"We could have looked after him?" Eagle looked at the rest of his gang.

"Eagle, we didn't know him then" Wolf answered without looking at him.

"Oh yeah" Eagle's fore head scrunched up and looked down thinking about…whatever Eagle thinks about.

**"That was the bank." Alex came into the room wearing his spare uniform. He hadn't told her what had happened at the breaker's yard. He hadn't even told her about the empty office.**

"You should tell her, Alex. And anyways, how did he get past her in the mess that he was in?" Helen shrieked.

**Jack had enough on her mind. "I'm going there this afternoon," he said.**

"**Do you want me to come?"**

"**No I'll be fine."**

"No, take her with you! They might not try to do anything to you or with you!" John

"See, this is where he starts to talk to the book" Ian whispered to the SAS men and John wacked him in the back of the head.

**He found the bank easily enough. The Royal & General occupied a tall, antique-looking building with a Union Jack fluttering from a pole about fifteen floors up. **

"God bless England." Ian held a hand over his heart.

"Um, Tiger…its god bless _America_ not England" John put a hand on his brothers shoulder.

"Oh" Ian looked down and everyone stifled a laugh.

**There was a brass plaque with the name next to the main door and a security camera swiveling slowly over the pavement. **

**Alex stopped in front of it. For a moment he wondered if he was making a mistake going in.**

"Yes! Yes, it is a big mistake going in there!" Ian shrieked.

"And in the first chapter he said that I just reached puberty" John whispered Helen who laughed silently.

"What?" Ian looked brother.

"Nothing!" John smiled cheerily at Ian.

**If the bank had been responsible in some way for Ian Rider's death, it was always possible they had asked him here to arrange his own.**

**But why would anyone from the bank want to kill him? He didn't even have an account there. **

"Ha ha, Alex! Very funny…Not" Sabina said and Ian began to lean over and say you know what but she shoved him back and said "Oh shut up!"

**He went inside and in an office on the seventeenth floor the image on the television monitor flickered and changes as Street Camera #1 smoothly cut across to Reception Cameras #2 and #3 and Ale passed the brightness outside to the cool shadows of the interior. A man sitting behind a desk reached out and pressed a button and the camera zoomed in until Alex's face filled the screen.**

"**So he came," the chairman of the bank muttered. **

"Isn't the chairman of the bank Mr. Blunt?" Helen said out of curiosity.

"Yep" Ian muttered dryly back to her then he realized what he had just said and sat bolt right up, "Shit!"

"My sentiments exactly" John leant forwards slightly.

**"That's the boy?" The speaker was a middle-aged woman. She had a strange, potato-shaped head and her black hair looked as if it had been cut using a pair of blunt scissors and an upturned bowl.**

"Is it me or is that women familiar?" Ian asked John. John's only answer was,

"Mmm" whilst Smithers just shook his head, smiling.

**Her eyes were almost as black as her hair. She was dressed in a severe gray suit and was sucking a peppermint. "Are you sure about this, Alan?" she asked. **

"Yes, thank you! Somebody who might be seeing sense and Ian don't even think about it!" Helen exclaimed without looking at Ian.

"I like peppermints" Eagle mused, looking up at the ceiling and everyone looked at him. Eagle looked down when he felt eyes on him, "Sorry, did I say that out loud?" K-Unit just shook his head and everyone else resumed to reading again.

**Alan Blunt nodded. "Oh yes. Quite sure. You know what to do." This last question was addressed to his driver, who was also in the room.**

**The driver was standing uncomfortably, slightly hunched over. His face was a chalky white. He had been like that ever since he had tried to stop Alex in the auto junkyard.**

Everybody began to laugh at this.

"**Yes, sir." he said.**

**"Then do it." Blunt said. His eyes never left the screen.**

"Do what?" Eagle asked his leader

"You know what, idiot!" Wolf snapped at him.

**In the lobby, Alex had asked for John Crawley and was sitting on a leather sofa, vaguely wondering why so few people were going in or out. **

"Probably because once you go in you never come out alive again" Ian said in a spooky voice and John sighed, answering dryly and heavily,

"Shut up"

**The reception area was quiet and claustrophobic, with a brown marble floor, three elevators to one side, and above the desk a row of clocks showing the time in every major world city. But it could have been the entrance to anywhere. A hospital. A concert hall. Even a cruise liner. The place had no identity of its own.**

"Neither does any of the people working there" Ian muttered.

**One of the elevators slid open and Crawley appeared in the same suit he had worn at the funeral but with a different tie. "I'm sorry to have kept you waiting, Alex." he said. "Have you come straight from school?"**

**Alex stood up but said nothing, allowing his uniform to answer the man's question.**

"He's cocky!" Ian whistled

"**Let's go up to my office." Crawley said. He gestured. "We'll take the elevator."**

**Alex didn't notice the fourth camera inside the elevator, but then it was concealed on the other side of the one-way mirror that covered the back wall. Nor did he see the thermal intensifier next to the camera. But this second machine both looked at him and through him as he stood there, turning him into a pulsating mass of different colors, none of which translated into the cold steel of a hidden gun or knife.**

"They better not hurt him!" Helen growled, leaving the K-Unit confused on why she cared so much.

**In less than the time it took Alex to blink, the machine had passed its information down to a computer that had instantly evaluated and then sent its own signal back to the circuits that controlled the elevator. It's OK. He's unarmed. Continue to the fifteenth floor.**

**In less than the time it took Alex to blink, the machine had passed its information down to a computer that had instantly evaluated and then sent its own signal back to the circuits that controlled the elevator. It's OK. He's unarmed. Continue to the fifteenth floor.**

"I should hope he's unarmed" Snake's eyes widened.

**"Here we are." Crawley smiled and ushered Alex out into a long corridor with an uncarpeted wooden floor and modern lighting. A series of doors were punctuated by brightly colored abstract paintings. "My office is just along here." Crawley pointed the way. They had passed three doors when Alex stopped. Each door had a nameplate and this one he knew 1504: Ian Rider.**

"Oh no. Don't even think about it, son." John said and Wolf snapped his head to him,

"What?"

"Nothing!" John hurried.

**White letters on black plastic.**

**Crawley nodded sadly. "Yes. This was where your uncle worked. He'll be much missed."**

"I heard about his uncle" Eagle said.

"Yeah, I heard about his parents too" Snake agreed.

John, Helen and Ian looked at each other.

"**Can I go inside?" Alex asked.**

**Crawley seemed surprised. "Why do you want to do that?"**

"**I'd be interested to see where he worked."**

"Hell, yeah, it would be interesting" Ian said and lent back into the sofa.

**"I'm sorry." Crawley sighed. "The door will have been locked and I don't have the key. Another time perhaps." **

"Ugh, yeah right" Ian said.

"Will you ever shut up? Jeez, we don't get through two sentences before you start again!" John complained.

**He gestured again. He used his hands like a magician as if he were about to produce a fan of cards. **

"**I have the office next door. Just here."**

**They went into 1505. It was a large square room, with three windows looking out over the station.**

**There was a flutter of red and blue outside and Alex remembered the flag he had seen. The flagpole was right next to the office.**

"Again, what's with describing it so much?" Helen asked and Smithers just shook his head; Mr. Blunt had showed him the video after Alex went to train with the SAS

**Inside there was a desk and chair, a couple of sofas in the corner, a fridge on the wall, a couple of prints. A boring executive's office. Perfect for a boring executive.**

"Burn" Ian and K-Unit muttered so John couldn't hear them.

**"Please, Alex. Sit down." Crawley said. He went over to the fridge. "Can I get you a drink?"**

"Say no; there could be poison in it!" Sabina said and Smithers chuckle silently.

**"No, thanks." Alex took a sip. It wasn't Coke. It wasn't even Pepsi. He recognized the oversweet, slightly cloying taste of supermarket cola and wished he'd asked for water. "So what do you want to talk to me about?"**

**"Your uncle's will…"**

**The telephone rang and with another hand sign, this one for 'excuse me', Crawley answered it. He spoke for a few moments, then hung up again. "I'm very sorry, Alex. I have to go back down to the lobby. Do you mind?"**

"What a coincidence" Fox looked at his fellow members.

**"Go ahead." Alex settled himself on the sofa.**

**"I'll be about five minutes." With a final nod of apology, Crawley left.**

**Alex waited a few seconds. Then he poured the cola into a potted plant and stood up.**

Everybody began to laugh.

**He went over to the door and back into the corridor. At the far end a woman carrying a bunch of papers appeared and disappeared through a door. There was no sign of Crawley.**

"What is doing?" Helen asked.

**Quickly, Alex moved back** **to the door of 1504 and tried the handle… But Crawley had been telling the truth. It was locked.**

"Oh, thank god!" John side and settled back into the sofa.

**Alex went back into Crawley's office. He would have given anything to spend a few minutes alone in Ian Rider's office. Somebody thought the dead man's work was important enough to keep hidden from him.**

"Well, he can't do anything because the doors locked" Ian reassured everyone but Fox snorted,

"A locked door won't stop Alex. Trust me"

**They had broken into his house and cleaned out everything they'd found in the office there. Perhaps the office next door might tell him why. What exactly was Ian Rider involved in? And was it the reason why he had been killed?**

"Why won't he just give up" John pleaded,

"John," Ian put a worried hand on his shoulder, "I think you're going to the bad place"

John just looked at him dryly.

**The flag fluttered again and, seeing it, Alex went over to the window. The pole jutted out of the building, exactly halfway between rooms 1504 and 1505.**

"Why is he so interested in that flag?" Sabina shook his head.

**If he could somehow reach it, he should be able to jump onto the ledge that ran along the side of the building outside room 1504.**

"Oh! That's why he's so interested in the flag!" Sabina said smiling and nodding but then she realized what was happening in the book.

**Of course he was fifteen floors up. If he jumped and missed there would be a couple of hundred feet to fall. It was a stupid idea. It wasn't even worth thinking about.**

"Exactly! So don't do it!" Helen whimpered and John hugged her.

**Alex opened the window and climbed out. **

"Wha-! He just said-!" Helen cried.

**It was better not to think about it at all. **

"Oh! So that's supposed to make it better!" Helen cried again.

**He would just do it. After all, if this was the ground floor or a jungle gym in the school yard it would be child's play. **

"This isn't a play ground!" Helen shrieked.

"Helen, you're scaring me…" Ian shuffled to the edge of sofa.

"Sorry, Ian" Helen blushed.

**It was only the sheer brick wall stretching down to the pavement, the cars and buses moving like toys, so far below and the blast of the wind against his face that made it terrifying. Don't think about it. Do it. **

**Alex lowered himself on the ledge outside Crawley's office.**

"He's gonna die" Wolf shook his head.

**His hands were behind him, clutching on to the window-sill. He took a deep breath. And jumped.**

Sabina's eyes widened as she realized he actually did it! But then again, she always thought that he was a little bit of a moron.

**A camera located in an office across the road caught Alex as he launched himself into space. Two floors above, Alan Blunt was still sitting in front of the screen. He chuckled**

"What? Just letting him do this? He's horrible" the corner of Helen's mouth twisted up in an expression of disgust.

**It was a humorless sound. "I told you," he said. "The boy's extraordinary."**

"Well, thanks for complementing him but couldn't you say that about and about something, like, a school report." John huffed.

"**The boy's quite mad," the woman retorted.**

"**Well, maybe that's what we need."**

"**You're just going to sit there here and watch him kill himself?"**

"Says you" Sabina snorted.

"**I'm going to sit here and hope he survives."**

**Alex had miscalculated the jump.**

"What does that mean?" Helen raised an eyebrow.

"Miscalculated means-" Ian began, pretending to shove a pair of glasses up his nose.

"I know what miscalculated means!" Helen yelled then apologized…again.

**He had missed the flagpole by a centimeter and would have plunged down to the pavement if his hands hadn't caught hold of the Union Jack itself.**

"You tell he love his country! He's hanging on to it!" Eagle cackled.

"So not funny" Fox replied. Snake lent over to his friend,

"Mate, just keep quite"

**He was hanging now with his feet in mid-air. Slowly, with huge effort, he pulled himself up, his fingers hooking into the material. **

"What if it rips?" Ian asked

"I don't want to think about it" John shook his head.

**Somehow he managed to climb back on to the pole. He still didn't look down. He just hoped that no passer-by would look up.**

**It was easier after that. He squatted on the pole, then threw himself across to the ledge out-side Ian Rider's office.**

"I knew he was a moron but a suicidal moron, really?" Sabina raised an eyebrow.

**He had to be careful.**

"Oh, you're being careful _now_?" Sabina snorted and everyone chuckled a little.

**Too far to the left and he would crash into the side of the building, but too far the other way and he would fall. **

"At least it thought about it this time" Smithers shrugged

"_This time_?" John raised an eyebrow and Smithers gulped.

**In fact he landed perfectly, grabbing hold of the ledge with both hands and then pulling himself up until he was level with the window. It was only now that he wondered if the window would be locked. If so he'd just have to go back.**

"Oh, good one, genius!" Sabina shrieked,

**It wasn't. Alex slid the window open and hoisted himself into the second office, which was, in many ways, a carbon copy of the first. It had the same furniture, the same carpet, even a similar painting on the wall.**

"MI6's interior is so boring" Ian moaned.

"Why do you care, you're never there" John's eyebrow's rose.

"Huh! That rhymed! You're a poet and you don't know it!" Eagle grinned and everyone just ignored him.

**He went over to the desk and sat down.**

Ian snorted, "Help yourself why don't you!"

"Ian, shut up!" John's eyebrow scrunched together.

**The first thing he saw was a photograph of himself taken the summer before on the Caribbean island of Guadeloupe where he had gone diving. There was a second picture tucked into the corner of the frame, Alex aged five or six. **

"Aw, is Ian really a big softy?" John teased and patted his brother's head like a he was his pet dog. Ian shoved John's hand away and huffed.

**He was surprised and a little saddened by the photographs. Ian Rider had been more sentimental than he had pretended.**

"See, even Alex agrees with us!" John laughed.

**Alex glanced at his watch. About three minutes had passed since Crawley had left the office and he had said he would be back in five. If he was going to find anything here, he had to find it quickly. He pulled open a drawer in the desk. It contained four or five thick files. Alex took them and opened them. He saw at once that they had nothing to do with banking.**

"Great! Now's he's gonna find out about us!" John complained and threw his hands in the air.

**The first was marked NERVE POISONS: NEW METHODS OF CONCEALMENT AND DISSEMINATION.**

"Ah! A trip down memory lane!" Ian smiled, "Let's see. Got slapped by a woman"

**Alex put it aside and looked at the second, ASSASSINATIONS: FOUR CASE STUDIES.**

"Got punched by a woman"

**Growing ever more puzzled, he quickly flicked through the rest of the files which covered counterterrorism, the movement of uranium across Europe, and interrogation techniques. The last file was simply labeled: STORMBREAKER.**

"And got kicked by a woman before 'dying'" At this point everyone was laughing.

"Wow! Rejection much!" John gripped his side in pain.

**Alex was about to read it when the door suddenly opened and two men walked in.**

John snorted, "What a coincidence!"

**One of them was Crawley. The other was the driver from the junkyard. Alex knew that there was no point trying to explain what he was doing. He was sitting behind the desk with the Stormbreaker file open in his hands.**

"I can just imagine it! 'Sorry, sirs, I was just looking for the toilet'" Eagle laughed and so did Ian. 'Like Eagle, like Ian' John smirked.

**But at the same time he realized that the two men weren't surprised to see him there. From the way they had come into the room, they had expected to find him.**

"Obviously" John snorted.

**"This isn't a bank." Alex said. "Who are you? Was my uncle working for you? Did you kill him?"**

**"So many questions." Crawley muttered. "But I'm afraid we're not authorized to give you the answers."**

**The second man lifted his hand and Alex saw that he was holding a gun. He stood up behind the desk, holding the file as if to protect himself. "No…" he began.**

**The man fired. **

"They did not just shot my son!" John's face turned red wit fury and everyone edged away from him.

"Honey, calm down" Helen rested her hand on her husband's shoulder and tried to reassure him that Alex wasn't gonna die because there was still 8 books left. Although she was panicking to, she was just holding it in.

**There was no explosion. **

"If there was no explosion then it can't be a real gun" Ian raised an eyebrow.

"Dart" Wolf murmured and all the men nodded in understanding.

**The gun spat at Alex and he felt something slam into his heart. His hand opened, and the file tumbled to the ground. Then, his legs buckled, the room twisted, and he fell back into nothing.**

Helen winced and tried to keep her anger from boiling out of control. John squeezed her and whispered soothing words in her ear.

"I'll read next." Ben said gruffly and picked up the book.

* * *

><p><strong>There, I've tweaked so that Alex doesn't come in as soon as I originally planned. <strong>


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